Couchsurfing Reviews 

I got caught by the verification scam too. STAY AWAY FROM THIS SITE.

SCAM. Beware, it's a scam! You have to pay to access and then they automatically charge you for the membership, without refunding you. Inside the website you never find guests to host you!! SCAM

I am a Couchsurfing member and I wanted to verify my account.
The website asked me to provide a payment method for verification without mentioning anywhere that this would cost money and without telling me how much it would cost. I chose Apple Pay and the costs only showed while the page was already deducting 56€
from my account which is not okay.
I would like to get an immediate refund of this money as I am not willing to pay that much for verification!

I've used couchsurfing for so long many years ago. Today just for fun I went to check my profile and apparently I can't do it without paying.I remember when couchsurfing used to work so well. If hosts did it all for free, for the cultural experience, it seems almost a joke when couchsurfing now asks you for a monthly fee. Yes, a website needs money to operate but a good averstising management would do the trick. There are plenty of websites that are able to profit without charging fees. It really is a shame.

BEWARE OF ACCOUNT VERIFICATION !!!!!!

While it will seem like a standard 'Verification' with absolutely no mention of a fee by CS, I filled my card details and pressed confirm to verify my identity and I got charged 56,00euros !!! without even giving my consent of this payment. Client service will tell you that they do not offer refunds. WHAT A BIG SCAM!!! the fees are all hidden, CS being completely unclear about it in order to trick people and make profit. How can you take money from members without even asking for their consent. Im closing my account right now, i dont wanna be part of this scamming company. SHAME ON YOU CS!!!

This is kind of an scam, and tiranny! people create profile in a freemium site which offers free servicers, when he get enough users and people get used to using it. it closes site and makes people pay under fake "donation" which is not donation if it is mandatory. also as some say it charges 50 Eu without asking and is like robbery. I strongly suggest people do sue this site and also some people bring an application with similar features so people can move to that app.

They will charge you 56EUR for account verification, without notifying you. This is a dark pattern and ilegal in Europe. Avoid them like the plague.

I have subscribe for 1 month only, but they asked me to verify my credit card, I accepted and all of a sudden I was charged £51 for a lifetime coachsurfing membership- which I did not want. My permission wasn't ask, they have simply taken my money without explaining what meant to "verify your card" Ihave writted straight away to support and there is still no way of the "support" to understand what is happening. A total scam, I am utterly frustrated and disappointed by such behaviour of the company.

Don't trust this bunch. The site was created by the community by letting g people stay in their homes for free. Then they sold the company and now you have to pay a fee to even enter the site. Remember who created this site!! Capitalism on steroids at its worst!!

I will never ever use couchsurfing, will never recommend anyone. I did the biggest mistake by clicking verify my account as normally it does not cost anything on other websites. They charged me 420kr! What kind of scam is this. If anyone planning to sue them, please reach me out. I would like to participate as well. It is unbelieavable.

Couchsurfing has totally tanked its reputation. I used to love this community. Been a member for over 15 years and made some great friends hosting along the way. But then they started a paid subscription service, took money without warning me, and said 'no' when I politely asked for a refund because I don't use the service anymore. PayPal sided with me and returned the money, but the way they handled it was just awful. I've gone from being an avid fan of Couchsurfing to someone who warns everyone I meet against joining it.

I wanted to sign up as a host. I didn’t want to make any money, just wanted to meet interesting people on life’s journey.

Couldn’t even look around the app for free to see whether it was for me and if it was something I was interested in.

Immediately hit by a paywall which put me off. There’s no way am I paying just to have a look. Who knows? Had i been allowed a look, there’s a good chance I’d have subscribed. But I wasn’t , and I didn’t.

I got banned after being harrassed by a woman because I told other users about it, no actual explanation given.

Completely terrible experience. I created an account and it said if I verified my account, hosts would be much more likely to accept my requests. So I clicked verify and little did I know I was charged $60! This is ridiculous. I'm completely fed up with this app. I tried to call the phone number for customer service to get a refund. That line doesn't work. I submitted multiple requests for a refund. Nothing. I'm going to keep writing bad reviews until I get my money back. Then probably close my account.

In the early 2000s this site seemed utopian, it was 100% FREE, and the people who participated in it were respectful and genuine, today with the new generation of CS this site has become a nest of disrespectful rats , and after the pandemic the site forces you to pay what is 100% unacceptable to me, I am not going to invest my money in a site like the one it has become, what a shame.

Trust me when I say this page is a pure scam.

UPDATE May 2024:
I could finally get my refund thanks to PayPal! If it wasn’t for then I would’ve never seen my money again!

This absolute scam of a company needs to be sued by us all, it’s incredible how they still manage to get their “contributions” with no one doing anything. The way customer service replies to the request of a refund is totally ridiculous. Now I will never ever think of using their stupid website.

The stole £51 from my account without notice!!! ai only agreed to £2.51!! how do i complaint and get my money back? i will take this further

Just got scammet for 56 €.
This is so bad. No one is using it and it is just for baiting in people.
Im up for a group lawsuit on this.
Its outragous.